Mindset : The New Psychology of Success pdfdrive com

INTRODUCTION
O
ne  day,  my  students  sat  me  down  and  ordered  me  to  write  this  book.  They
wanted  people  to  be  able  to  use  our  work  to  make  their  lives  better.  It  was
something  I’d  wanted  to  do  for  a  long  time,  but  it  became  my  number  one
priority.
My work is part of a tradition in psychology that shows the power of people’s
beliefs.  These  may  be  beliefs  we’re  aware  of  or  unaware  of,  but  they  strongly
affect  what  we  want  and  whether  we  succeed  in  getting  it.  This  tradition  also
shows  how  changing  people’s  beliefs—even  the  simplest  beliefs—can  have
profound effects.
In  this  book,  you’ll  learn  how  a  simple  belief  about  yourself—a  belief  we
discovered in our research—guides a large part of your life. In fact, it permeates
every part of your life. Much of what you think of as your personality actually
grows  out  of  this  “mindset.”  Much  of  what  may  be  preventing  you  from
fulfilling your potential grows out of it.
No book has ever explained this mindset and shown people how to make use
of  it  in  their  lives.  You’ll  suddenly  understand  the  greats—in  the  sciences  and
arts,  in  sports,  and  in  business—and  the  would-have-beens.  You’ll  understand
your  mate,  your  boss,  your  friends,  your  kids.  You’ll  see  how  to  unleash  your
potential—and your children’s.
It is my privilege to share my findings with you. Besides accounts of people
from  my  research,  I’ve  filled  each  chapter  with  stories  both  ripped  from  the
headlines and based on my own life and experience, so you can see the mindsets
in action. (In most cases, names and personal information have been changed to
preserve anonymity; in some cases, several people have been condensed into one
to make a clearer point. A number of the exchanges are re-created from memory,
and I have rendered them to the best of my ability.) At the end of each chapter
and throughout the last chapter, I show you ways to apply the lessons—ways to
recognize the mindset that is guiding your life, to understand how it works, and

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to change it if you wish.
A  little  note  about  grammar.  I  know  it  and  I  love  it,  but  I  haven’t  always
followed  it  in  this  book.  I  start  sentences  with  ands  and  buts.  I  end  sentences
with prepositions. I use the plural they in contexts that require the singular he or
she. I’ve done this for informality and immediacy, and I hope that the sticklers
will forgive me.
A  little  note  on  this  updated  edition.  I  felt  it  was  important  to  add  new
information  to  some  of  the  chapters.  I  added  our  new  study  on  organizational
mindsets to chapter 5 (Business). Yes, a whole organization can have a mindset!
I added a new section on “false growth mindset” to chapter 7 (Parents, Teachers,
and  Coaches)  after  I  learned  about  the  many  creative  ways  people  were
interpreting and implementing the growth mindset, not always accurately. And I
added  “The  Journey  to  a  (True)  Growth  Mindset”  to  chapter  8  (Changing
Mindsets) because many people have asked for more information on how to take
that journey. I hope these updates are helpful.
I’d like to take this chance to thank all of the people who made my research
and  this  book  possible.  My  students  have  made  my  research  career  a  complete
joy. I hope they’ve learned as much from me as I’ve learned from them. I’d also
like to thank the organizations that supported our research: the William T. Grant
Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Education, the
National  Institute  of  Mental  Health,  the  National  Institute  of  Child  Health  and
Human Development, the Spencer Foundation, and the Raikes Foundation.
The  people  at  Random  House  have  been  the  most  encouraging  team  I  could
wish  for:  Webster  Younce,  Daniel  Menaker,  Tom  Perry,  and,  most  of  all,
Caroline  Sutton  and  Jennifer  Hershey,  my  editors.  Your  excitement  about  my
book and your great suggestions have made all the difference. I thank my superb
agent, Giles Anderson, as well as Heidi Grant for putting me in touch with him.
Thanks to all the people who gave me input and feedback, but special thanks
to Polly Shulman, Richard Dweck, and Maryann Peshkin for their extensive and
insightful  comments.  Finally,  I  thank  my  husband,  David,  for  the  love  and
enthusiasm  that  give  my  life  an  extra  dimension.  His  support  throughout  this
project was extraordinary.
My work has been about growth, and it has helped foster my own growth. It is
my wish that it will do the same for you.

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Chapter 1